Aurora Awaits
by Arieadil
Summary: Queen Lena is through with the niceties of court. She elects to spend some time abroad in the dusty deserts of Aurora. She expects to find herself some peace of mind from all the troubles of the throne, but what she finds is more than she bargained for.
1. The Queen's Leave

**Hello, everyone! This is my very first fic, and I'm very happy to be sharing it with you. :D I couldn't help myself, I've been reading everyone's fabulous Ben Finn/Princess stories for a while now, and I wanted to join in on the party. ;) Lena is my Fable 3 Princess, shes kind of angsty right now, but this shall pass. I'm pretty sure we all would be in her shoes. ;) So without further adieu, please enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>After the final battle, I realised that I had truly lost everything. It took nothing less than the death of my mentor, my second father, to put things into perspective. These people that I had grown to depend on were my family. The raucous, unruly type for sure, but loyal to the death nonetheless, but they were all leaving me. Even my own brother, Logan, who I had spent the previous year getting to know again. He told me about his fears and nightmares brought on by the Darkness in the west that had set its eyes on me. My family. Logan, Sabine, Page, Kalin and Ben. Ben. Just when I thought that something good for just <em>me alone_ might come from all this. Everyone but Jasper. Thank Avo for him. Everyone else was leaving. My family was leaving me behind when I needed them the most. _

"Your Majesty! Uhm.. Lena! Please wait!" _Hobson_. The very last person that she wanted to see.

"Yes, Hobson?" Lena plastered on a smile to keep up the somewhat courteous façade that she had been playing him with for the past year. Her patience with this man was running dubiously thin as of late, no thanks to his unabashed obsession with the kingdom's finances.

"I've just finished in the treasury." _No surprise, there_. "I've been checking the ledger and it states that there is roughly ten million gold in the treasury."

"Yes, Hobson. I'm well aware of this matter, please keep me notified if anything changes." She smile once more to him and turned on her heel, leaving the map room. A sheet of paper on the table near the door caught her eye on the way out. _A note from Reaver_._ Not what I need right now._ She left the paper on the table and walked to the hallway, pulling the thin chain around her neck from under her shirt. The familiar weight of the guild seal rested in her hand. She couldn't help but remember the day that she had retrieved it from her parent's tomb. It seemed a lifetime ago. She smiled slightly to herself at the memory of both Walter and Jasper's excitement at discovering that she was, too, indeed a hero. Just like her father. She closed her eyes and her palm around the seal and when she opened them, she was standing in the Sanctuary.

"Good morning, Jasper." She smiled. The first _genuine_ one of the day.

"Ah, good morning, my Queen." Jasper bowed to her gracefully. "I've just finished reading this rather interesting novel, it was about a rather unfortunate archaeologist—"

"That's lovely, Jasper." Lena smiled at him politely, interrupting him before he could go off on a tangent about his newfound novel. She was certain that she would never leave, if Jasper got talking. That's what she loved about him. She also loved his infallible sense of others emotions. One that he would surely get the chance to exercise if she couldn't get moving quickly enough. As much as she adored his empathy, she couldn't even sort out her own feelings to herself, let alone burden someone else with them. What she needed was some time to think.

"Jasper, I'm thinking about taking a turn about Aurora. Do you think that you could handle things around the castle while I'm away? I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic as of late, and I've been meaning to check on the state of Aurora." She kept her gaze on the map table in front of her, running her hands over the pseudo-rocky terrain of the Mistpeak Mountains.

"Oh, of course, my Queen! I could keep in contact with you via the guild seal and Sanctuary, and you could take some time for yourself, Avo knows it is well deserved." He patted her shoulder sympathetically with a small considerate frown on his face.

"That sounds perfect, Jasper." A smile cracked across her face. She was truly happy for the chance of this trip. Not just for her own selfish reasons, but for the well-being of the Aurorans as well.

"I'll just change into something more practical, I suppose, check in with Hobson and be off." Lena nodded her head and smiled kindly at Jasper. He held out his arm and looped hers through before setting off in the direction of her massive closet.

Thankfully, the majority of the clothes that she had intended to wear were already sorted out onto one of three dressing mannequins all she had to do was get out of her horribly constricting royal garb, and get on with things. She stripped her Dweller vest off of the dummy, relishing the feel of the soft fur collar and worn leather on her fingertips. She couldn't help but smile a bit in remembrance of the day she had acquired it. Walter had given her enough gold for not only an entirely new ensemble, but enough for all the lovely children of the Mistpeak Dweller camp to take home to their families. She only wished that she had had more to give them at the time. Gold could only get you so far.

The rough cotton and linen of her Dweller belt and "practical princess" skirt chafed lightly against her arms as she finished jamming her feet into her tattered mercenary –styled boots. Lena leaned back against the stair and brushed her hair off of her face. Looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but notice the faintest of feathery swirl about her blue eyes and cheeks. She had acquired these markings when her true form had manifested itself in glowing will lines and lushly feathered, white wings. She hadn't the chance to see the image herself, but Ben was sure to remind her on several occasions.

"_You had great, bloody, _spectral_ wings, for Avo's sake! Where is the fairness in that?" He slung back a few more gulps of his drink as he gestured wildly to all that would listen in the crowded inside of the Cock in the Crown. It was one of the very few times that she and a few of the other rebels had gotten together after Walter's funeral and before they all left to go their separate ways._

"_Shut up, Ben." Lena hid her wild grin in the brim of her stein. She had never liked the taste of ale, but she humored her companions by ordering some regardless and pretending to drink when they went out together._

"_Oh, tosh. He's just jealous of you, Lena, that's all. He knows he could never pull off a set of wings like that." Page grinned as she sat down next to Lena at the table._

"_Hrrmph," Ben scoffed, "Of course I couldn't. It would clash with my uniform." He sat smugly as he gripped his blood-stained lapels, which sent both Lena and Page into a fit of laughter._

Such little things. They seemed so trivial at the time, but now, they were more meaningful than air. How she missed them. Him in particular. Everything was going so well. That night had been the first time that she had allowed Ben Finn to kiss her. She had thought about it countless times before, of course, and Ben wasn't at all subtle about his affections towards her, but she continually brushed them off as actions of a deprived man, or for the mere fact that Benjamin Finn was a confessed hopeless romantic. After their fun night in the pub, she left Page and Kidd to travel back to resistance headquarters on their own, and while she insisted that she could handle herself to walk back to the castle, Ben insisted that she would be "safer" if he traveled alongside her.

"_You never know what you might run into on these streets! Could be a mass of hollowmen! Maybe even a balverine! You know how terrible I'd feel if I let you wander on your own only to find you got yourself eaten." Ben sighed and shook his head melodramatically._

"_Captan Finn! You know perfectly well that I am capable of handling myself," Lena haughtily suggested in a humorous air. "And besides, in your state of inebriation, I will surely find myself in the role of protectorate."_

"Your Majesty_! Are you insinuating that I need protecting? I most certainly do not! _I _am a man, and we men do not need protection. We are the _protectors_, not the _protectees_." Ben laughed at the dubious look arranged on his queen's face. "And besides, I am not drunk." He smiled impishly at her._

"_Ah, I see, Ben. Could you try this for me then?" Lena held both her arms out to her sides and touched her nose alternately with each pointer finger, suppressing a fit of laughter all the while._

"_Oh, no, no, Lena." Ben reached out and took both of her hands in his. "I doubt I could do that when I'm completely sober," He said thoughtfully, "No matter, in all seriousness, Lena, I will be accompanying you on your journey home tonight. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."_

_ She stared at him for a good while, trying to decipher any meaning to his words. He stared right back at her with his penetrating ice blue gaze._

"_You're eyes have changed. Did you know that?" He asked her, moving in a step closer, "You used to have this, stormy grey, now they look even more blue. Like a tempest."_

_"Well aren't you the poet, Captain Finn." Lena said blushing, as she tried to gently tug her hands away. He held fast._

_"You do have that effect on me, sometimes." Ben said in a whisper. Lena usually dismissed him with a joke or a funny crack by this time on any usual occasion, but this time, she just couldn't persuade herself to. Ben cleared his throat and brushed some of her hair away from her cheek, holding his palm there in it's place. She leaned into him and closed her eyes._

Lena hopped up and strode over to the mirror, twisting long pieces of her pale blonde hair into a bun as she did so, pinning them into place in curls. _No sense in dwelling in the past. It only makes this hurt worse, I suppose._

"I always did love that hairstyle on you, but it just seemed like so much work." Jasper came strolling through the door into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her.

"What? Have I done something wrong?" Lena panicked and started looking wildly around.

"No, no, of course not, but that _isn't_ what your planning on wearing to _Aurora_, is it? You do realise that it is a _desert_." He emphasized the word 'desert' with forbidding slowness.

"Oh, I suppose you're right then. Leather and fur isn't that practical, now is it?" She grinned in spite of herself, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll just have to buy some more _appropriate_ clothes when I arrive." She smiled and put her arm around Jasper's back and led him out of the room.

"I do suppose that would be sufficient." He contested.

* * *

><p>"Ein. Wake up, boy," Lena scratched her border collie behind his floppy ears. "Goodness me, you lazy creature, here it is nearly two in the afternoon and here you are <em>sleeping<em>." Ein let out a huge yawn and then sneezed in her face as if to say, _so what_.

"We're going to go on a little trip," His ears perked at the word 'trip' and he struggled to disentangle himself from his own limbs. "That's my boy."

The collie was a constant source of amusement for Lena, ever since she was a young girl. Her father gave him to her as a gift, not long before he died. He promised her that a dog would be her most loyal companion, as he had had one himself growing up in the streets of Bowerstone and knew this to be true. Ein hadn't proved her wrong yet. He had stayed with her through her entire life, and she loved him dearly.

"Lets go boy!" She said as she took off running out of her old bedroom, down the stairs to the courtyard. She ran as fast as she could laughing all the way with Ein at her heels.

"Hobson, may I speak with you for a moment?" Lena found Hobson in the treasury, like always, he was fiddling with the ledger and holding a stack of gold between his podgy fingers.

"Oh, oh, uhm.. My Queen," He tossed the gold back into the pile behind him and cleared his throat. Lena fixed him with a stare as she arched one blonde eyebrow at his not so subtle attempts to look nonchalant, "I was just… counting. What do you need?"

"I will be taking a leave for a short while, and I wanted to give you some notice. You will be reporting to Jasper until my return in the coming months, any messages you may have for me, he will be able to relay them. Jasper is more than capable of handling things in my absence, so with that, I shall be seeing you." She nodded to him and stepped away.

"Of course, your majesty." He graced her with a deep bow, which on him made her feel decidedly less regal and slightly uncomfortable. She nodded to him one last time and turned on her heel, Ein following in tread.

Lena gripped her guild seal once more and arrived back in the Sanctuary promptly.

"Ah, everything settled then?" Jasper asked placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes. I just need to collect my things, then I will be on my way, I suppose." She looked her Jasper in the eye and fixed him with a worried look. "You will be able to handle everything, right? This isn't too much for you?"

"Oh, no. Of course not! Your father had me running the gambit in those days, I'm sure I can keep everything running smoothly whilst you're away." He patted her on the back reassuringly.

"Thank you so much, Jasper. This means a lot to me." Lena said meaningfully. She gripped him in a sudden hug that caused Jasper to gasp in surprise. He patted her back once more.

"My queen, if you will," he said gesturing widely to the armoury, "Aurora awaits."

Lena smiled and walked into the armoury to collect her weapons. Her rifle "The Money Shot" which she had won in a range contest at the Mercenary Camp, and her sword "The Inquisitor". As much as she truly despised Reaver, and all of his sensibilities, she did love this sword, it was quite beautiful.

"I'm ready," Lena stepped onto the platform and prepared to teleport, "Good luck, Jasper, I shall keep in touch." She said one last time fixing him with an earnest smile.

"Have fun, Lena - ah, but not - _too_ much fun." He said smiling, as he bowed.

Lena steeled herself for the rush that was teleportation, and in the next second she felt her feet on the dry sand. She opened her eyes to the golden sun-drenched land that was Aurora, in all its splendor. _Aye, not _too_ much fun. _She thought smiling subtly to herself. She knew very well that; if her memory served her right, Aurora wasn't exactly _fun._

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all very much for reading. :) The next chapter should be up sometime soon, possibly this weekend if all goes well, but I've got a ton of classes this semester, and not much free time. :\ Favorites and reviews would make me cry tears of joy. :D -Arieadil<strong>


	2. Priestesses and Promises

**Hello again everyone! :) A special thank you to those of you who reviewed and follow my story, it means a lot to me. Hope you all enjoy!:D -Arieadil**

* * *

><p>"Aurora," Lena sighed, "Are you ready boy?" She asked Ein, patting his head reassuringly. He cocked his head to the side and let his tongue loll out of his mouth. "Oh, you know you are." Lena said, smiling. <em>I do suppose that I had better make my way towards the temple. Maybe Kalin will be here.<em> She turned away from her dog to begin her journey from the docks to the temple, and nearly ran into a tall, dark skinned man wearing a dark orange shift and trousers  
>"Oh, I am so sorry," Lena apologised gripping the man's shoulder.<p>

"Ah, but I am not," He said to her, sweeping her a low bow. "You know, I could see myself with someone like you with very little persuasion."

"You're joking, right?" Lena asked, very shocked with the man's, whose name she had yet to learn, forwardness.

"No, of course not, my queen. My name is Han, I could escort you about the city if you so desired." He responded smarmily as he made a grab at her hand. He pulled off her glove and made to kiss her hand.

_Eugh. How repulsive._

"Sir, would you desist!" Lena said through gritted teeth, roughly ripping her hand away and retrieving her stolen military glove. _He can't seem to take the hint._ "Sir, if you don't mind, I would much appreciate if you would leave me to my business. Good day." Lena strung her words together carefully, attempting to veil as much of her animosity as she possibly could. She turned away abruptly and left Han standing in the middle of the walkway. _How infuriating. He definitely reminds me of _someone_ I know. _She smirked grimly to herself. Lena continued her walk through the streets of Aurora with a renewed sense of urgency, lest she run into another character similar to him.

Everyone that she passed seemed so much happier, as if a giant weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. She supposed it had, what with the absence of the Darkness in their lives. She still couldn't get the images out of her mind of her first trip through the streets of Aurora, soon after Kalin and Ben had found her nearly dead in the middle of the Shifting Sands. _Thank Avo, for them both. Walter and I might not have made it out alive._ Though, of course, Walter hadn't made it out alive, in all aspects. The Darkness had infected him. It had taken control of his life and she had had absolutely no idea. It still weighed heavily on her heart, the suffering that he must have endured in his last year.

She entered the market district of the town. The changes were insurmountable. Banners and tents of lovely jewel tones covered the landscape of her vision. It made her sigh in relief. Lena wasn't exactly sure what she might find when she arrived in the heart of the city, but she certainly didn't expect this. Children laughed and played. They weren't particularly loquacious, but very well mannered, curtsying and bowing like miniature adults. The people of Aurora were _thriving_, and it made her heart ache with the thoughts of how much these resolute people deserved it.

She spotted a small tent in the distance with two dressing dummies clad in the finest of Sorcerer's garb. She made a bee-line for the tent, appreciatively sighing at the prospect of changing out of her adventurer clothes. As much as she loved them, she was absolutely sweltering.

"Hello, your majesty, how may I help you today?" A beautiful olive skinned woman with a shaved head greeted her with a warm smile. Lena couldn't help but grin back.

"I was interested in purchasing some clothes. I'm afraid that I'm rather unprepared for the heat." She said smiling timorously as she gestured to her fur, leather and linen ensemble.

"Why yes of course, your majesty. I'm afraid the weather here is much less hospitable than that of your Albion." The woman said amiably.

"Please, call me Lena." She held out her hand for the woman, who, shocked, took it and held it in her firm grip for a moment before letting it loose.

"My name is Aara. I am the owner of this establishment, as well as the gifts and general goods supplies" Aara offered politely, giving Lena a small bow.

"It's very nice to meet you, Aara," Lena hoped that the rest of the Aurorans that she should meet would be more like Aara, and less like the unctuous man, Han. Nothing made her quite as uncomfortable as groveling men, wishing things of the amorous sort. She had just never acquired the experience to handle them.

"I do believe that I've just the perfect thing for, you Queen Lena," Aara said holding up one finger and disappearing between stacks of unassuming, but richly colored fabrics. "Aha, here we are!"

She appeared in front of her holding some sort of sleeveless tunic or shift, a set of Shalwar-typed trousers, much like the ones that she had seen Kalin wear on normal occasions, as well as waistclothes and a pair of beaded slippers, all of which were constructed out of a very lovely fine muslin, apart from the slippers which were silken, in the darkest of black. She lifted a lovely sash adorned with a beautiful silver brooch with Auroran script juxtaposed amid countless tiny silver coins that were sewn, tinkling, into the fabric. It seemed to almost glisten when she moved it.

"It's beautiful," Lena stated simply, lost in the feel of the silken fabric in her hands. "Thank you very much." Lena reached into the sash of her vest and retrieved a sack of one thousand gold pieces and handed it to Aara. "Just a little extra for your shop."

Aara sputtered out a thank you and disappeared one more time behind the stacks with a gesture as if to say, 'just one minute'. She reemerged with a small darkly wrapped parcel which she handed to Lena with a bow.

"Oh, Aara," Lena exclaimed as she unwrapped four stunning silver bangles and a sturdy, dark, gorget-like aegis embellished with small pieces of lapis lazuli. "These are magnificent."

"A gift, my queen," She said with a smile, "These are anklets, made with the finest silver from our mines and lapis lazuli, meant for protection."

Lena shocked her once more by gripping her in a firm hug.

"I won't forget this, thank you very much." Lena got a firm grip on her newly acquired Auroran wardrobe staples and left the tent.

She mounted the stairs to the temple, taking one step at a time. She was so ready to see a familiar face. She pushed open the heavy doors and was greeted by the warm smells of burning incense and perfume oils. The silent priests and priestesses nodded solemnly at her as she passed. She greeted each of them with heartfelt smiles.

"Your majesty. It warms my heart to know that you've arrived safely." Lena turned to see the familiar face of Priestess Mara, the very woman who nursed both her and Walter back to health after their confrontation with the Crawler. The very thought made her shudder.

"You knew I was coming?" Lena asked perplexed.

"We priestesses have our ways of knowing things," She smiled coyly and gestured for her to follow, "I regret to inform you that Kalin is away for the time. She is traveling west with a militia in hopes of confirming a few rumors."

"Rumors?" Lena asked, intrigued. She couldn't help but acknowledge the sinking feeling of learning that she wouldn't be able to see her friend. _At least I get to see the Priestess, though. That will have to be enough. I do intend to meet new people as well_. She assured herself.

"Rumors of possible settlements to the west. Settlements even more primitive than our own, but settlements, nonetheless. We would hope to make contact with the promise of protection."

"Why would you do that?" Lena asked, perplexed.

"We are all children of this world, why would we need any motives?" She said, not in a chastising manner, but motherly. Edifying. "Now my queen, I must ask a favor of you."

"Yes, anything." Lena responded earnestly.

"In our culture, we have ways of representing our feelings and intents. Not with words, but with our appearance," The priestess gestured gracefully to her clothing and tattoos, "For centuries now, we have held in this very room, dyes that we hold sacred. These dyes are produced from the petals of very rare Auroran flowers. These flowers, you see, were dangerous to come by in any normal situation, but with the threat of the Darkness, they became impossible to procure."

"So you'd like me to gather these flowers for you, Priestess?" Lena asked simply.

"Yes, my queen. In order to create the dyes, we need these flowers. Would you be a willing individual to acquire them?" The priestess held her hands together and fixed Lena with an inquiring stare.

"Yes, of course, anything that I can do to help." Lena assured.

"Well then, with that, I thank you your majesty. You should be on your way. I advise you to obtain a home for your stay. I look forward to seeing you again, very soon." Priestess Mara nodded once in her direction and disappeared into the haze of incense smoke behind her. _That woman sure is puzzling, at the best of times._ Lena thought to herself as she pulled her Guild Seal from under her shirt, juggling her packages in her arms, and held it tightly in her palm.

The cool air of the Sanctuary graced her like a much needed oasis.

"Good afternoon, Jasper." Lena smiled as she walked past him in a rush to change.

_Auroran flowers._ This struck something in the dark recesses of her mind. _Auroran flowers!_

"Jasper!" She shouted as she slipped on her shoes and sprinted from the closet, "Auroran flowers! Do you still have those samples that I gave you that I found in Sandfall Palace?" She exclaimed, excitedly.

"The lovely blue flowers? Why yes… But why on earth… Oh, Lena, you do look lovely in that outfit, it's positively Auroran!" Jasper grinned from ear to ear. Lena swore, that man loved clothes more than she did.

"Jasper, focus!" She stated simply, snapping him out of his clothing reverie.

"Ah, yes. I do believe that I put them in the trophy room," He gestured over his shoulder, barely finishing his sentence before Lena sprinted off in the other direction.

"Flowers, flowers…" Lena browsed the shelf of her 'trophies'. _More like pieces of junk_. She never could understand why Jasper insisted on keeping all of these mementos. And that model of Simmons' head, absolutely revolting.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, pulling the jar of dried blue flowers from the highest shelf. She ran back into the map room with a smile on her face. "Thank you so much, Jasper." She consulted the map table, and Jasper's insurmountable knowledge of her real estate endeavors across both Albion and Aurora, and procured herself accomodations for her stay. _The Wanderer's Rest. How fitting_. She laughed silently to herself about the name of her new abode.

"I shall have your new home redecorated with some things from back home, just so you feel comfortable." Jasper promised her warmly.

She gave him one last hug, shuffled Ein awake from his comfy basket with an impatient humph, and teleported back to Aurora.

* * *

><p>Lena took the steps to the temple, by twos and rushed into the temple without any decorum. She garnered quite a few unhappy glares and even a few cocked eyebrows.<p>

_Oh, right._ She reminded herself. _Temple. Quiet._ She was just so painfully excited at the prospect of bringing a bit of the Auroran culture back to them that she could hardly contain herself.

She walked slowly into the room that she had left the Priestess before leaving.

"Yes, your highness?" Priestess Mara asked emerging from the dark.

"I believe that I have some of the flowers that you needed." Lena said with a smile.

"Aah, yes," Mara said, taking the jar with a grim smile. "This is exactly what I need. Follow." She gestured to Lena to follow her to a pedestal near the wall.

"Queen Lena, you are helping to preserve a bit of the Auroran culture," She took the blossoms from the jar and ground the petals in a mortar. She procured an oil of sorts and a strange luminous liquid from a chest in the corner and began mixing, talking solemnly as she did. "The blue dye represents sorrow, and mourning in Auroran culture. As you would very well understand, it was the first of the dyes to run out when the Darkness descended on our lives."

Lena acknowledged her words with a grim understanding. She knew this all too well.  
>"Would you like me to assist you in dyeing your tattoos blue?" She asked gesturing to the faintly glowing bottle of newly mixed dye.<br>Lena gave her a puzzled look.

"But you said it was for sorrow." Lena questioned.

"Yes my queen, and are you not suffering?" She asked wisely.

She hadn't addressed her issues so directly since the final battle. She was both thankful for the opportunity and entirely frightened.  
>"Yes. Yes, I suppose that I am." Lena admitted to both Mara and herself.<p>

Mara nodded grimly, motioning Lena closer.

"It's like I've lost my father all over again, but this time, I can remember every little bit. I can't get it out of my mind." Lena felt Mara's cool fingers brush the straps of her shift aside and her painting the cool dye onto the set of pale blue wings tattooed on her back. Her will usage had caused a permanent change in all markings on her body. They now cast an ethereal glow at all times, not only when she was using magic, something that she was still not quite used to. She sensed Mara's nod behind her, rather than seeing it, urging her to continue.

"His absence has left a hole in my heart. I feel more alone than ever." Lena felt a tear escape down her cheek, and she brushed it roughly away.

"And what of your Captain? Benjamin Finn?" Mara asked as she moved around Lena and lifted the legs of her pants to trace the falling feathers inked on her thighs. After that, she began to paint the intricate Guild Seal tattooed on Lena's chest. She was surprisingly, not uncomfortable in the slightest. It was soothing having Mara trace the lines on her body. The matronly woman made it feel almost clinical.

"What about Ben?" Lena asked, confused. _Ben Finn._ She had thought plenty about him. About his smile. His laugh. His dancing, crystalline blue eyes, and the way his unruly mop of blonde hair always tended to flop into his face on it's own accord. She remembered how her fingers always itched to brush his hair aside, or run her fingers through it- _Stop it_._ Ben Finn means nothing anymore_. She just hoped that she was a more convincing liar to the Priestess than she was to herself.

"Ah, you can't yet admit it to yourself. I see then." Mara nodded and smiled smugly to herself. Lena failed to see the humor.

"Admit just what, exactly?" Lena questioned, innocently, as if she hadn't just interrupted her own train of thoughts about the Captain only moments ago.

"The extent of which you miss your Captain. I've seen the two of you. You may not yet understand the state of affairs you are in, but I assure you. I have." She smiled once more.

"I do miss him." Lena admitted to herself. She of course had thought about him countless times since his leave, but usually in conjunction with the countless other faces that she had lost. _And there I go lying to myself again_. "I miss him, a lot." Lena closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"And?" Mara prodded.

"And… I'm absolutely furious with him," Lena gritted, suddenly feeling her anger boil up. She hadn't known that this was in her. "He left… me. He left me when I needed him, and I am furious." Lena felt the tears prickling in the edges of her eyes. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth against the assault.

"Good. That means you are feeling, but now you need to forgive him." Mara finished with the dye and wiped her fingertips on a soft cloth hanging from her waist.

"Forgive _him_? He abandoned _me_. He should be the one apologising." Lena felt the tears brim over. She knew that she was being childish, but she just couldn't help it.

"Lena, he is at fault, but so are you, in different ways. You have harbored your anger at him for long enough, you must forgive him. Then you must accept that everything that you have endured will have happened for a reason. Acceptance is the first step to recovery. The trials and ordeals that one faces are to make you a better person. To grow. To grow into the being, the Queen, that you were destined to be." Mara placed one soft, weathered hand on Lena's shoulder. Lena dipped her head and let her tears fall.

"Thank you, Priestess." Lena gripped her in a tight hug, which she earnestly returned.

"It is my duty to help those who are in need, my queen," Mara stated simply, "I feel that a journey is in need for you." Mara took her shoulder and led her back through the temple to the large stone entry doors. Lena retrieved her effects from the table in the entry hall as Mara pushed open the heavy doors gently with one hand, guiding Lena with the other.

"Where must I go?" Lena asked. Slipping her sword and rifle over her shoulders.

"You must recall the defense outpost that you established up after the revolution?" Lena nodded, "I feel that you will find what you seek there. The solace, healing. The friendship."

"I understand." Lena smiled one last time at the Priestess, "I will keep collecting the flowers when I find them." Mara nodded gratefully.

"The citizens would be pleased to see everything returning to normal. We all cannot thank you enough for your help, your majesty." Mara gripped Lena's shoulder and turned back to the temple.

Lena set off down the stairs, the familiar weight of her weapons and gauntlets reassuring her. _The military outpost. Curious. Yet also not surprising._ Lena sighed audibly. As truly helpful the priestess was, clear she was not. Sure she gave lovely advice, but the woman could write a book on how to master the art of vagueness. _The outpost. I wonder what exactly she hopes I find there._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Phew!<em> Now what could Mara be up to? ;) **I've been a writing fool these past couple of days. I've got you the next chapter super quick. ;) The next one may even be up tomorrow! Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism would be welcome! Please feel free to drop me a line. :D****


	3. Of Captains and Queens

**I apologise to everyone for taking so long, I've had a lot of course work to deal with, and to top it all off, Skyrim came out, and WOOSH. there went all of my time. :) Well here we are! Thank you so much to all who reviewed, and a special thanks to Well I Don't Know who managed to come across my DeviantART page. ;D Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Good grief, it is hot!" Lena exclaimed aloud, dragging her arm across her face in an attempt to staunch the flow of sweat from her brow. She dug her toes into the sand and pushed herself harder. Ein even seemed to be struggling a bit with this journey.<em> It didn't seem like it took this long before<em>. Lena thought to herself succinctly. _But then, of course, I was hallucinating and very much unconscious for the vast majority of the journey._ She may have been insentient, but she could still remember strange, brief moments in her crossing, one in particular was when Kalin and Ben had first found her stranded in the vastness of the Shifting Sands.

"_Taking a nap in the sand? Psh, Typical royalty." She could hear the smile in his voice and forced her eyes up squinting in the bright sunlight. She saw the dark shadowed outline of the man kneeling over her, blocking out the worst of the sun. _Ben? Impossible. He didn't make it. He wasn't with Walter and me. _She choked on an inaudible sob. _It's the Crawler playing tricks on me. It must be. _For the briefest of moments she thought for certain that Ben had made it to Aurora alive. _But that was just what the Crawler wants me to think._ She turned her head back to the small bald woman kneeling at her feet. She hadn't ever seen her before, of that she was certain. No matter, she must be another one of the Crawler's tools. Maybe she had seen her before in passing. Around Bowerstone perhaps. _

"_Don't worry, you're safe now." He said gently as he went to lift her._

_She groaned as she felt arms snake under her back and knees as she was lifted from the hot sand. _Very strange. _She_ _thought, feebly. _This does feel quite real. _She felt the steady breathing and warmth of the man carrying her as he treaded heavily towards what she could only assume was the city. She heard the rough protestations from him; she couldn't let herself believe that it could be Ben, lest she be disappointed by the truth of losing him again, as he dismissed the others offering him assistance._

_Lena fought to open her eyes one more time before succumbing to the tumultuous waves of her unconscious. She looked up into the blue eyes of her captain, sighing in relief at the mere prospect of his being with her, of being safe and whole. _Alive_. She gave the merest hint of a smile and closed her eyes contentedly. _Even if it is a hallucination, I can be happy that he is the last thing I see. _She was so very weak._

"_Everything will be alright, Princess. That I promise you." His fervent whisper was the very last thing that graced her senses before she yielded to the darkness._

Flags. She saw flags in the distance. Not the shredded crimson fabrics that graced the rocky outskirts of the Shifting Sands at the entrance to Sandfall Palace that she had spotted only moments ago as she stormed wearily through the ravine, spying the shrouded forms of the Sand Furies stationed upon the high bluffs in the distance. They had remained wholly motionless, watching her. Waiting for a semblance of danger. No, these flags were whole, untarnished emblems. _Albion flags._ Lena thought in relief. _Nearly there._

As she neared the great stone arch that acted as a halfway marker in the vastness that was the Shifting Sands, and the military outpost within it, she could hardly keep a steady pace. She so wanted to run the rest of the way to the great wooden doors that protected the outpost, but the exhaustion was getting the best of her.

The stone arcade cast a greatly desired shadow across the desert floor. She breathed a sigh of relief as she came within metres of the sturdy fort doors.

A sudden sharp _CRACK!_ followed by a deep, echoing creaking shocked her still. She gripped the hilt of her sword and felt a rush of will flow through her body and into her shock and fire gauntlets. The doors were opening for her. She saw a tall, reasonably young man dressed in the garb of an Albion soldier pass through the gap in the doors.

"Your highness! You're 'ere!" The man shouted excitedly, jogging ever so slightly to meet her halfway. "We are all so grateful to see you!" He bowed in front of her and with a clatter of the pack on his back as well as his sword; he jerked himself upright in a salute. "Lieutenant Daniel Montgomery, your highness."

Lena smiled warmly at the young Lieutenant, "You look astonishingly familiar, Lieutenant. Were you stationed in Mourningwood by chance?" The Lieutenant gestured waved her into the camp ahead of him.

"Yes, Ma'am," Dan had a rather interesting drawling sort of accent, one not unlike the accents that she had heard in the Dweller camps in the Mistpeak Mountains. "92 days, it was. I had the fortune of being there when you came along and saved all our arses," He grinned widely and let out a chuckle, his expression abruptly changed, "Oh, I am most sorry, Ma'am, I didn't mean to use such coarse language. It's just been us soldiers around here for the last month. We do have the proclivity to be quite the foul-mouthed lot, I reckon." He smiled weakly at her.

"Not a problem in the least, officer," Lena assured him with a smirk, "I, too, on occasion have been one to curse quite freely, barm-pot." She winked at his astonished face.

"Oh ho, well, aren't you a handful," He whistled through his teeth and smiled once more at her laughing freely. "I do feel that a tour is in order!" He exclaimed, leading her forward with a cheerful nod.

"Welcome, to the Shifting Sands military outpost, my lady!" The lieutenant opened his arms wide, gesturing to the whole of the fort. The soldiers walking past, looking battle worn, but very happy, nonetheless, laughed lightheartedly at the lieutenant.

There were four tall, sandstone and clay buildings set in a massive circle around a most gratifying set up of very large cannons. An infirmary, armoury, canteen/mess hall and the soldier's quarters, as far as Lena could tell, were in quite decent condition, at least on the outside. Piles of sandbags and crates doubled as storage and decent defense in the event of a breach of the fort. There were countless barrels of gunpowder and many large cannons in varying states of assembly. Even with the sight of the bustling fort, she couldn't seem to keep her eyes from being drawn in the direction of the two freshly dug graves near the infirmary. It broke her heart at the thought of these men dying for the country, even if it was their wish to be here and a part of the Royal Albion army. She couldn't help but feel as if it was partly her fault.

Men emerged from the four buildings and converged in the courtyard to welcome their queen.

"This 'ere's Tom and Ernie, they guard the doors to the south, and Peter and Jim, 'ere to the north," The four men stepped forward in turn, saluting the queen. "Speaking of which, what are you doin' over 'ere, soldiers?" Dan turned to the four and gave them a withering look.

The men scattered in a chorus of agreement, Lena overheard a few choice swear words coming from Lieutenant Tom. _'A proclivity for coarse language.' Right you were, Dan._ Lena couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"And 'ere's Geoff, Chris, Eric, Adam and Mike. Pat is around here somewhere, probably in the armoury, can't seem to keep him outta there. He does like to blow things up, that one." Dan said, trailing off into his own train of thought.

"Uhm, I'm not trying to be callous or anything, but it would seem that it is just you Lieutenants here at the moment?" Lena asked him, confused.

"Oh, yes, your majesty. It just so happens that we lost both our major and captain just a few days ago," Dan removed his hat and all of the soldiers nearby did so as well. He remained silent for a moment and nodded to himself. "We've received notice that a general is on his way as replacement, but it's still hard to imagine them both gone." Dan sighed deeply. "I've been a suitable stand-in for a leader for the time being, or at least the men seem to think so." He added bashfully.

"I am so very sorry to hear that," Lena said sincerely, wondering briefly why she had not heard of the fort's troubles until now. "What happened, may I ask?"

"There was even a Sentinel, I believe they call 'em," Dan said in a sort of grim approval, "Those tall buggers, the magic users. We got 'im though. After a bit."

Lena stilled her breathing at the thought of them taking on a sentinel. She remembered how difficult it was to fight them, what with their magic capabilities and their constant summoning the "children" from the darkness. She had such a hard time on her own and she was of hero's blood. She could sparsely imagine the rough time that her men had in the confrontation. Granted there were quite a few of them, but numbers didn't always make up for the lack of skill, she was afraid. Thankfully these men were quite skilled. Skilled enough rather, that they all weren't massacred in the attack. She sighed painfully.

"So that explains that, I suppose," She stated, gesturing grimly to the two freshly dug graves in front of the 'hospital'.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Dan said removing his hat once more and bowing his head solemnly, as if in respect for his lost companions. "We should be on, I can show you to your quarters and then to the canteen. I don't doubt that you are a bit peckish after your journey through that desert." Dan forced a smile.

"Thank you, very much, Lieutenant." Lena offered him a polite smile and followed him across the large courtyard into one of the buildings.

"Here will be your accommodations for the length of your stay. We received notice from a High Priestess of the Auroran temple just a few days ago, stating that you'd be arriving soon, so we procured you this 'ere bed." Dan grinned as he led her into the cool, wide room and over to a large wooden partition. There was a sturdy looking oaken bed with a large patchwork quilt lain across it._ My books, _Lena thought puzzled, _How did they get my books?_

"Oh, your butler, Jasper, as I recall, he sent these ahead of you," Dan said gesturing to Lena's things that were stacked upon the large wooden crates that acted as a sort of barrier between her "quarters" and the rest of the soldiers'. Lena walked closer and traced the books' spines. She really did love reading, and as it would seem, Jasper did well in sending all of her favorite novels. She gasped audibly when she noticed a small photograph in an unadorned picture frame.

"It's my father and Walter." Lena lifted the frame from the crate and held it in her hand. She could feel the tears begin to prick behind her eyelids. Dan cleared his throat.

"I'll just leave you to it, then, your highness." He nodded respectfully to her and saluted her once more. "It would seem that you've already missed dinner with the rest of the men for today, but you're welcome to get something to eat if you wish, Breakfast is at 0700, more of a get in get out sort of affair, that, lunch is at noon, and dinner starts at 1900 hours exactly; we all do hope to see you there." As he turned to leave, he removed a roll of parchment and set it on her matching desk. "A letter from the Priestess, Ma'am." He nodded once more and disappeared through the door.

Lena sat heavily on the bed, still holding the small photograph in her hands. She did miss them terribly, but it made her very happy, in a wistful sort of way, to have something to remember them both by. In the photograph, her father, in casual clothes, stood next to a very youthful looking Walter_. They both looked so young,_ she noticed, _so carefree._ She sighed once more and placed the picture on her bedside table as she stood to investigate her surroundings. There was a large bookshelf in the corner, containing more of her books and several rolls of parchment. A small decorative rug adorned the smooth surface of the stone floor. The small rolled parchment that was the note from who she could only assume was Priestess Mara sat unassumingly on her bulky desk. _Later_, Lena promised herself. She simply didn't feel in the mood to deal with the priestess's ambiguous personality at the moment.

The rest of the room contained several large wooden pallets with thick woven bedrolls and several plush pillows. There were also several pillows cast around a fire pit in the centre of the room. The overall effect was rather comforting; she could see herself being at ease here.

She continued to wander the grounds for the rest of the night, stopping by the amoury and the mess hall, chatting with the men. Ein did his best to cheer everyone in the fort. He ran around and stuck his nose into everyone's work, but they didn't seem to mind, they just patted his head, and he was off to the next solider. Lena doubted that she could have slept one bit even if she had wanted. Considering it was already late afternoon before she'd even arrived she'd already resigned herself to the possibility of missing any formal sort of meal, so she grabbed a bit of food and went on with her exploration. She explored every bit of the fort, even ventured outside onto the dunes for a short walk in the cool of the evening. Everything and everyone was quite hospitable, everything except for the infirmary; that left her with a sense of unease that she couldn't seem to shake.

There were more wooden pallets in there; these however didn't look half as comforting as those in the soldiers' quarters. These were cold. Sterile. A large operating table dominated a large portion of the space. Dark unsettling splotches, of which she could only assume were blood, embellished the warped surface of the dark wood. A large cart, which one would figure once held bodies of men, whether injured or lifeless. A sheer curtain attached to two large partitions served as a barrier of sorts from the rest of the room, behind which several ligneous coffins were stacked. It was this that sent Lena reeling, searching for a quiet place where she could clear her head.

By that time it was nearing noon, and she would join the rest of the men in the mess for lunch in a short time. She found a set of large stairs on the outside of the mess hall that lead to a large terrace overlooking the whole of the Shifting Sands. She absentmindedly stroked Ein's silky fur as she stared into the horizon. It seemed very peaceful out on the dunes, a gentle breeze blew sand in small waves, the sun cast long shadows across the landscape. Lena noticed a strange glint in the distance. Something burnished was reflecting the sunlight_. Oh, no._ She thought to herself as a feeling of dread crept over her. _Dark minions._

Lena sprinted full out down the stairs and into the courtyard.

"Minions!" She shouted, running forward to meet Lieutenant Dan in the centre of the courtyard, Ein on her heels. "They are coming this way!" She pointed wildly to the other side of the large wooden gate. Sure enough, she heard Peter, from the other side of the gate, warn his counterpart Jim as to their arrival.

"Fair enough," She heard him say, "Battle stations, men!"

The entire fort swept into motion. The soldiers retrieved guns and ammo from the armoury and formed ranks in front of the gate.

"Forward!" Dan shouted, as Jim opened the postern to the desert. They fired their rifles until the minions reached them and unsheathed their swords and cutlasses. Lena stormed into the fray, will lines glowing. She knocked two minions down immediately with powerful kicks and finished them with an assault of her sword. _Two down, only a dozen to go._ She thought, slightly amused, to herself as she gritted her teeth and moved to the next minion.

They fought for what seemed the larger portion of an hour without rest. The men were tiring, she could tell. She almost wished that the soldiers would take rest and leave her to the rest of the minions. She wasn't overly confident of her abilities, no; she was more worried for them for their own sakes. She could heal quickly, they couldn't. Just then another wave of minions crested over the dunes, this time, a Sentinel in tow.

"Focus on the Sentinel!" Lena shouted, lest they be bombarded with numerous of the "children" of the Darkness. She knew that they would be outnumbered then. She heard the men bolster their rifles, take aim and fire in a matter of seconds. The Sentinel recoiled once, then continued its never-ceasing stride towards them. _This just won't do._ Lena thought. She gripped her sword and ran forward to meet the Sentinel head on. Her first blow clashed against the Sentinel's large metal carapace, and sent her recoiling. She altered her strategy and began to aim for what she could only hope were its weaker points; the joints, arms, legs, neck. She got in quite a few good blows before the sentinel raised its staff and struck her hard. Lena was knocked cleanly off of her feet from the low sweeping blow. She watched as it brought its staff down in a finishing blow.

She felt someone's strong arms grip around her waist and pull her away in the last second. A rifle sounded and the sentinel groaned mechanically as it broke into pieces and crumbled in front of her. The battle was over. Lena stood and hastily brushed the sand off of her trousers, turning to see her protector, only to find the very last person that she had expected to see standing bold as brass in front of her. Her intended acknowledgments wandered from her tongue in recognition of his smirking face. It was Ben.

"Bet you weren't expecting to see me, eh Lena?" Ben said, noticing the look of bewilderment on her face. He gave Lena a sly smile and winked at her.

It made her blood boil. Ben stared into her face, processing the run of emotions, but didn't rightly know what to make of them. Lena was completely speechless. It was Ben. Ben Finn. The very man she'd sworn to loathe for all eternity for leaving her. The very same man who made her knees weak and heart swell in the same moment. He'd made her laugh, cry, and quite annoyed all at the same time. Now, she was furious. Lena walked up to him, her eyebrows furrowed in a look of deep concentration. The smug look had yet to leave his handsome face. _Handsome, tosh. He's a scoundrel._ Even with the ceaseless stream of colloquy, she couldn't think of one single thing to say to him. So she slapped him. Hard.

"Oi!" Ben shouted, rubbing his cheek, "That is not the behaviour of _royalty_!"

"And yours isn't the behaviour of a soldier of the crown," Lena retorted angrily, "I am your queen, and you will address me as such." Lena tugged at the sash adorning her waist, straightened her shoulders and looked him squarely in the eye. "What, pray tell are you doing here anyway?"

"I was notified that these men were in lack of a commanding officer, so I took it upon myself to resolve that." Ben arranged his face into an unreadable mask.

"Notified by whom, may I ask?" Lena asked crossly.

"A representative from the Auroran temple that was concerned with the affairs of this military outpost. Unlike others, I presumed." Ben shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh!" Lena turned from him and began to rush indignantly back into the fort, sidestepping wayward chunks of metal and fragments of the dismantled minions.

"Oh, I'm not through with you quite yet, princess." Ben gripped her forearm and pulled her to a stop.

"Captain Finn!" Lena shouted, astonished. _The nerve of this man! _

"It's 'General' now, you do realise that you appointed me your general?" Ben said smirking, altogether ignoring Lena's anger.

"Cap—Ben!" Lena sputtered, "Unhand me at once."

"At your orders, princess." Ben dropped her arm and stepped away from her with his hands up in an "I surrender" gesture. He looked into her eyes and grinned broadly once more.

"If you'd take care to notice, I'm a queen now, not a princess, and why are you smiling like that, it's absolutely infuriating." In truth, it wasn't so much infuriating as it was one of the most striking things she had ever seen, but she wasn't about to tell him that. She positively adored the way that his blue eyes nearly glowed when he smiled our laughed, and that cocky grin always thrilled her; from the very beginning.

"Yeah, I'll bet." He stood so very close to her now that she could see the small dark flecks in his eyes, and the faint trace of a scar on his stubbled jaw. He leaned in even closer and her heart stopped.

"You've got blood on your cheek, did you know?" Lena could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. He pulled away smirking and she let out the breath that she must have been holding. In an effort to hide her blushing she scrubbed her cheek with her palm.

Before Lena could even utter a response, he was already walking, no _swaggering_, away towards the mess hall.

_Ben Finn. And to think, I've been missing him all this time. _Lena shook her head sharply, clearing out the fogginess of her thoughts and followed him to dinner.

The men seemed in much better spirits once they got a bit of food and alcohol into their systems. But then again, who would one say wasn't? _Ben certainly fits right in._ Lena thought dourly as she sat, elbow propped on the table with her chin in her hands in the corner of the room, watching as Ben perched himself on the table in the centre of the large hall. No doubt regaling the men with some fantastic story or other. Lena was snapped out of her reverie when she heard her name mentioned.

"Queen Lena!" She looked up to see Dan gesturing to her from across the room. She stood and walked over to him with slight trepidation, "Why didn't you ever tell us about the time that you and Ben took down one of Logan's ships with only a single drum of gunpowder and a fireball, and then sailed on wreckage using only the clothes off your backs?" Dan looked overly excited, and even a bit feverish. Lena simply looked wry. She glanced at Ben who was nodding with a manic grin on his face. When he noticed her looking he suddenly became very interested in his mug of ale.

"A powder keg and a fireball?" Lena asked simply, "Well, I surely would've mentioned such a feat if it had actually happened, _Ben_." Lena turned away from Dan as she crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow at Ben.

"Hey, I just embellished the truth. A bit." He shrugged and rubbed at the back of his hair.

"Embellished? Ben, if anything, it would be closer to the truth to say that they took _us_ down with a single powder keg and a fireball!" Lena looked incredulous, and then she erupted into a fit of laughter. He gave her a sheepish look and shrugged once more. Lena sat with the men, exchanging stories of past battle exploits and of their times back home, before she knew it, it was dark out on the dunes and she was filled with a languor that could only mean that she was thoroughly exhausted from the day's events, even the days' previous.

"Well, kind sirs, I'm off to bed. Do feel free to wake me if need be." Lena pushed away from the table and climbed back over the bench. She was assaulted with the harsh groan of chairs and benches scraping across the stone floor as the soldiers stood to salute her.

Even Ben stood rigid, saluting her, albeit not so formally, but it was shocking to see nonetheless. He raised one eyebrow at her as she met his eyes and stared. She could see something in his eyes change; usually full of laughter and mirth, the look in his expressive, limpid, blue eyes turned serious and profound. Lena could feel a flush creeping up her neck and thankfully Ben broke the dead heat as he cleared his throat and looked at the floor.

"At ease, men." Lena managed to stammer out as she smoothed her hair down as to hide her unease. She glanced back at Ben who had managed to lock back into his usual countenance, he was joking with one of the other lieutenants standing next to him. She could detect the faintest traces of that look in his eye as he met her gaze one last time before she left the hall to walk back to her quarters.

She luckily had managed to convince the sometimes overly helpful Lieutenant Dan that she surely did not need an escort to and from the different buildings of the fort, for that she was thankful as she tried to fare with her wild thoughts on her brief walk across the courtyard. She pushed the door open with her forearm and sagged onto her desk upon entering. Her fatigue was definitely catching up with her. Lena noticed the letter from the priestess once more and decided that she had better read it.

"_I could only assume that you neglected to read this upon obtaining it," _ Lena rolled her eyes and groaned audibly. Of course she knew. "_I could also assume that the arrival of one General Benjamin Finn came as a certain surprise for you. I did feel that this would be a good opportunity for you to work out your unresolved feelings, in order to grow. Do keep in mind that everything happens for reasons that you may not understand at the time. People change, and so have you, and things go wrong so that you can recognize and be thankful for them when they do go right. I do feel that we will be seeing each other soon, so until then, you have my best wishes. Signed, Mara."_

Lena couldn't help but laugh at the untowardness of it all. Mara never ceased to surprise her, but she had to give it up to her for that, as well. It took a lot to surprise her these days and she had already caught her off guard more than once. _Maybe I'll need to reevaluate where I stand on terms of disbelief._ Lena thought to herself as she readied herself for bed. These next few weeks looked to be quite interesting.

* * *

><p>"Lovely accommodations. Right bit better than the ones at Mourningwood, am I right?" Lena awoke the next morning to the sound of Ben speaking. She assumed that he was talking to Dan, as he'd been with Ben in Mourningwood. She couldn't help but feel terrible at the prospect of this being comparable to Mourningwood. She still couldn't bring herself to completely forgive Logan for sending those miserable men to their untimely and apparent deaths. She couldn't help but wonder if she was making the same mistake in a new place.<p>

"I see she has procured herself a bed. A cosy one I'll bet," Ben continued, she could hear the smile on his voice. Avo she'd missed him, but she was furious with him as well, which persuaded her to keep up her slumbering frontage, "Typical royalty. Sensitive backs and all that. I gather she refused to sleep until appropriate accommodations were made?"

Lena knew that he was only joking, but the perchance that this was how he viewed her, as a typical royal snob, still bothered and upset her.

"Yeah, she didn't sleep one bit." The lieutenant responded offhandedly. _Oh! The nerve of that man! _Lena nearly sat up from the bed to correct him herself, "Oh, but not in that way, General, not at all."

Lena stilled in rapt apprehension.

"She simply refused to sleep on the grounds that she could be giving the men more support. She was more than willing to sleep on our wooden cots." Lieutenant Dan said earnestly.

Lena smiled smugly as she interpreted Ben's silence. _Shocking, Captain Finn? _Lena gritted her teeth on all the things she wanted to shout at him. _Damn him._ She settled for clearing her throat once and sitting up slowly, trying to pretend that she had just woken. She brushed her hair out of her face and adjusted the top of her nightgown before walking around the screen to meet them. She had managed to take them off completely off guard. Dan shot up to his feet and saluted her before he realised that Lena was still clad in only a fine cotton nightgown. She suspected that Ben saw through her pretense so she stood unwaveringly and addressed them both accordingly.

"General Finn. Lieutenant. What shall we be doing today?" She pulled her long blonde hair over her shoulder and began braiding it into one long plait. Ben eyed her clothing with one arched brow. She hadn't expected to elicit such a reaction from him. She crossed her arms over the deep frilled neckline and rubbed her bare arms. His stare was giving her goose bumps.

"I was thinking we might take a walk, your majesty. If you don't mind of course." Ben said kindly, though his tone didn't imply much.

"Yes, of course, general. If you'd allow me to ready myself, I can meet you in the courtyard in a turn." Lena was slightly puzzled. He was just so hard to figure out when he wanted to be.

"I'll be waiting." Ben turned and left the room, the lieutenant at his heels. Lena sighed to herself as she sat on the bed, pulling out her clothes from her knapsack_. This should be interesting, to say the least. _

She left Ein sleeping in a huddle at the foot of her bed, no use disturbing him, she thought. Lena met Ben just outside the door. They didn't say anything to each other for the first few minutes. Lena couldn't help but wonder what was running through his mind. He surely was thinking of something of importance, considering hers was going a mile a minute, a constant running diatribe. Lena unconsciously led him towards the balcony that she had settled on the afternoon before. They chatted politely about insignificant things; the seemingly never-ending assault of the sun on their desert fortress, the state of the fort itself, even stooping to such trivial matters as the weather. Ben, as per usual, covered up his true feelings with humor. It seemed that both of them were equally afraid to breach any subject seemingly relating to the relationship between them. Lena steeled herself. _I guess it will be me then._

"Where did you go, Ben, when you left me?" Lena said quietly, her eyes fixed on her shoes.

"'Round Samarkand." Ben said quietly. Lena gave him a puzzled look.

"Did you make it there?" She asked meeting his eyes tentatively.

"Well, obviously not. I wouldn't be here if I had." Ben retorted with a derisive sort of snort. Or so she had read. Lena fixed him with a severe glare. She didn't know how to respond to him. _'Obviously not' he says. He _obviously _didn't make it. What a complete rotter! Here I've been, beating myself up over him, and he hasn't even the decency to show a lick of concern, or Hell, even confliction, considering he just up and left. Surely he didn't hate it with me that much? _ She knew it certainly sounded pathetic, but she couldn't help it,_ what other reasons could he have had? _Lena scoffed loudly and stormed away just as she felt tears begin to prickle behind her eyelids.

"Lena! Lena, wait! I didn't mean it like that," He followed briskly after her and met her before she could reach the stairs. He gripped her shoulder and spun her around. She had tears forming in her eyes. _Damn. He does _not_ get to see me like this. Not _him_. Not after everything. _Lena averted her gaze and went to move away from him once more.

"Lena! Stop this." He said gruffly as he pressed her firmly against the sandstone and clay of the wall of the soldiers' quarters. She fixed him with an icy stare and pushed against his chest to free herself. He only pressed into her more determinedly.

"I left. I know that it hurt you, and I'm sorry," He sighed deeply and moved his hands to cup her cheeks. "I didn't even make it to Samarkand," He said, a small smile turning his lips. Lena looked at him speculatively, "No, I'm completely serious. I made it three weeks long journey on a ship not half as comfortable as one would expect, only to realise how much of a daft dolt that I truly was. I jumped ship the minute we landed at port on this crummy trading outpost where they intended on restocking supplies, and I got the next ship home to Albion. Home… to _you_." He said stroking Lena's cheek with a dark look pinching his eyebrows.

"Lena, look at me," Ben said softly, tilting her chin up to his eyes. "I have been a royal _arse_. I will never leave you again like that again. I promise. And I don't renege on my promises. You know that." He emphasized his words with a nod and a curt stare.

Lena's breath hitched in her chest.

"I know, Ben," She said solemnly, "I'm… I'm sorry." She looked him in the eyes and he swallowed deeply. Ben watched her face prudently, careful to not misread any signs, and pressed his forehead to hers. Lena's lips parted slightly and she gripped his dirty soldier's vest in her hands.

"Lena, I—" Ben leaned forward and dipped his face towards hers.

BOOM! Cannon fire ceased their movements. They heard the clatter of swords and rifles underneath their feet. Lena gasped and pushed away from the wall.

"Minions! To your stations, men!" She heard the Lieutenant shout. Lena unsheathed her sword and ran to the ledge. Sure enough, a horde of Dark Minions were scurrying over the dunes, headed directly towards the fort.

Lena sighed heavily as she saw the soldiers sprinting out into the hot desert dunes. She glanced back at Ben who stood standing as still as stone.

"I have to help them." Lena said simply before launching herself over the wall, and fell several metres to the sand below.

"Lena, don't!" Ben rushed forward and leaned over the wall, his heart stopped in fear of finding her injured below, but he knew better, of course, and surely enough, Lena landed firmly on her feet and sprinted across the dunes to assist her comrades.

_Just like Mourningwood, they said. Well they weren't wrong. _Ben shook his head in disbelief at the entirety of the situation.

"Balls!" He shouted as he turned and sprinted down the stairwell to be with the Queen. His queen, and she knew it as well as he.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all for reading! I'm well at work on the next chapter, but I'm just going to go ahead and say that the next chapter will be up in a couple of weeks, I don't want to make any empty promises about having it up any sooner, what with the workload that I've got in school right now. :\ Thank you all again! Any constructive criticism would be welcome! :D - Arieadil<strong>


	4. For Bruises and Battle Scars

The crowd of minions was thick and unruly. Lena fought her way into the row, decapitating several minions on her way with flourishes of her sword. Reaching the center of the brawl, she let forth a wave of destructive will, sending several minions into flaming thrashing masses and incapacitating several more with electrical currents. Once the crowd had cleared, she began to focus on individuals with her heavy blade. Finally she was down to just one remaining. She completely dismembered it in three fatal swoops of her sword, the last of which sent the minion's disembodied head catapulting through the air.

She laughed once and turned, only to be face to face, or carapace rather, with another minion, its body towering over her form. She sobered instantly. The minion's arm began to spin, turning its blades in fatal arcs. Just as Lena raised her sword to counter, the fiend caught her arm in a long whirling sweep, cutting long jagged marks into her flesh.

"Ah!" Lena grit her teeth against the assault and dropped her sword in the sand. She reached over her shoulder to find purchase with her rifle, but was unable to steady it with her badly injured arm. She wound up shooting several times into the sand surrounding the minion, and once on its leg which unfortunately did nothing to incapacitate it. Reloading her rifle was an impossibility, it was dropped into the sand forgotten as well. With two of her three offenses down she was left with no other choice but to charge another blast of fire and lightning. _One minion. One single minion... I guess that will teach me to get cocky… If I even have another chance… _

Lena gritted her teeth and held her hands in front of her, hoping that she had channeled enough will to throw an effective assault.

Just as she had readied her mnemonic, she heard a single shot ring through the air, followed by the sound of metal striking metal. She opened her eyes to see Ben finishing off that single minion that was threatening her existence. The rest of the troops had finally reached their battleground just as another wave of minions reached them. Ben scooped up both of the Queen's weapons from the ground and reached for her waist, pulling her from the fray.

"Some hero I am, right?" Lena laughed out limply as Ben tugged her further from the skirmish. His sword in one hand, the other wrapped firmly around Lena's waist as he hunched forward rushing her from the battle. She retrieved her weapons from the crook of his elbow, freeing his arm and strapped them back into their consigned spaces.

She grinned at him and went to make her move back into the fight.

"Oh, no you don't," Ben grunted, sheathing his sword in favor of gripping her shoulders and pulling her back towards himself, "You just nearly got yourself killed out there. What were you thinking, rushing out there alone?"

Lena could hear the clash of metal on metal and smelled the gunpowder in the air. She couldn't spend any more time thinking, she just had to get back into the fight to help her squad. Ben gripped her arm once more, giving her an irreverent look.

"Ben, I've got to get back out there, they need my help." Lena made to move again, but this time, rather than attempt to stop her, Ben followed closely on her tail, readying his rifle once more.

"You really are a hell of a woman," Ben began his typical bout of mid-fight ramblings before they reached the thick of the battle, "A true hero and all that. Fantastic, really, but so damn _stubborn_…"

Lena shook her head once at him laughing silently to herself. She readjusted her grip on her sword. The blood flowing freely from her forearm was hindering her grip on the pommel. This won't be pretty…

"Truthfully, I have never met such a person as yo—whoa, there!" Ben was interrupted mid-sentence by a minion that unexpectedly dove at him from over a dune, narrowly dodging an arcing slice of the minion's bladed arm and unloaded his rifle directly into its carapace. It fell bodily to the ground where it twitched, once, twice, then collapsed into a heap of cogs and gears, leaking black oil into the golden sand.

"Did you see that! It nearly took my head off!" Ben laughed boisterously, pointing wildly to the mass of metal lying at his feet as Lena tried her hardest to keep a firm grip on her blade as she took on yet another minion. She looked over her shoulder briefly to give him an exasperated shake of her head.

"Well. I thought it was impressive…" Ben shrugged enigmatically.

"BEN! A little less chit-chat, a little more assistance. Please!" Lena had just blocked a heavy flourish from the next clockwork beast; a growing pile of gears was forming around her heels.

"Oh, right… Sorry…" Ben smiled once more in spite of himself and threw himself into the fray, wit and cutlass gleaming.

"Lena! You can't just go throwing yourself into battles like that! Quite literally. You _threw_ yourself!" Ben emphasized his words with a grand sweeping gesture. He had already corralled her back into her bedchamber, forcing her to sit down on her bed in the semi-darkness. Ben dropped all of their weapons to the floor by the door and strung his several ammo and bomb belts across the back of her desk chair.

"I didn't throw myself into anything, Ben. I knew exactly what I was doing." Lena retorted.

"Right, you didn't just jump off of that bloody tower, or anything. I'm just imagining that." Ben said in a rather acerbic manner.

"That's not what I mean, Ben," Lena gave an exasperated shake of her head. "Look, you can't expect me just to stand idly by and watch my men die. I need to be out there, they deserve that much. You know that. You've lived this." Lena gripped his hand, and looked him in the eye, imploring he see her reasoning.

"Of course, Lena. You know I understand." He gave her hand a squeeze to punctuate his words. "You want to help all of them; I want to help you. To keep you safe. As safe as I can at least." Ben shook his head and gestured at her bloodstained top, bruised cheek and ravaged arm, laughing silently at the thought of his queen's unnaturally strong willpower.

"I'm fine. I'll heal, it's only a couple of scrapes and bruises," Lena pulled away and went to leave the building, "I don't need any help."

"Scrapes and- The hell you don't! Look at your bloody arm! _Bloody_ being the vital word, there!" Ben was dead serious at this point, as he gestured to Lena's freely hemorrhaging arm, "Those damn Minions. That chump really got you there, didn't he?" Ben lightly gripped the underside of her forearm and elbow to take a closer look.

"Ben, please. Like I said, I'll heal. I heal quickly." Lena brushed his hands aside and started for the front door. Ein lifted his head in anticipation for another stroll outside, but was rebuffed when Ben started his next tirade.

"Yeah, maybe, but not before an infection sets in! I've seen less severe injuries than this go from paper cut to amputation worthy in less than a day. I am cleaning this up for you, and there is absolutely nothing you can say or do to persuade me otherwise," Ben stood and guided her back to her bed, "Now sit down, and wait here. Stay! Please." He paused no less than three times on his way to the door to assure that Lena was still. She cocked an eyebrow at him and gave him a contemptuous look.

"Benjamin, you do realise that I am not of the canine persuasion? I assure you." Ein, who had been sitting quietly at his master's feet, gave a small derisive whimper. Ben shrugged his shoulders and shook his head before turning around one last time and leaving the quarters.

"He may be unhappy that I barged headfirst into battle, but I'm almost certain that it wounds him more that it was just that I didn't have the decency to let him get the first shot." Lena said to her collie, grinning. He just gave her a weak sigh and rested his muzzle on his front paws once more. _Well I thought it was funny. The same goes for you as well; I'm sure, sir, considering you were having a little lie-down through the entirety of the skirmish._

"No dogs in the bunker, Ein. Outside," Ben snapped his fingers at the dog upon his re-entry, carrying an armload of antiseptics and clean gauze and linen. Ein whimpered softly, fixed Ben with a withering glare and grumbled as he retreated back into the courtyard through the halfway opened door.

"That's quite the lovely dog you've got there, rather personable if you do ask me." Ben stated sarcastically, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder.

"He learned from the best," Lena said proudly with a mischievous grin.

"Now, let me have a look," Ben sat beside her gently on the bed and laid out his supplies across the patchwork coverlet. "Lucky we have all these supplies, I have seen some pretty terrible infections in my time. We might've had to lop the entire thing off," Ben said, smiling, as he gently cleaned the long cuts that marred Lena's arm.

"Ben, you do realise that we are in the middle of a desert, not a marsh? I'm not going to get a wild infection in just twenty minutes." Lena said condescendingly through the stinging of the antiseptic.

Ben ignored her completely, or rather, pretended not to hear her.

"Yeah? Well…" Ben paused, searching for a retort. None came to him. He sighed deeply and went back to cleansing Lena's wounds. A smug sense of satisfaction washed over her and she couldn't help but smile at Ben's pseudo-misfortune. To get Benjamin Finn to shut up was a talent in its own; one that Lena had been working to perfect in her time in his acquaintance.

"Now, Captain Finn, you couldn't possibly be so distraught about my little bout of bad luck?" Lena gestured to her forearm, which Ben was now dubiously patching with thin squares of gauze. Her small smile still graced the corners of her mouth. "I'll guess that you're just jealous of the impressive scars that I'll be sporting once this heals right up."

Lena couldn't help but notice that he still hadn't responded. It was so uncharacteristic that it effectively wiped of the remnants of her self-satisfied simper.

"Ben?" Lena asked, touching his forearm with the hand that wasn't attached to the arm he was studiously swathing within layers of cool linen bandages, "Ben is something wrong?"

Her brow furrowed as she unsuccessfully attempted to gauge the expression on his composed face. He glanced up briefly, meeting her eyes for a fleeting second before focusing once more on his current task. His mouth opened once, as if about to speak, but he promptly shut it again and shook his head.

"I'm… just thinking about our earlier conversation, is all." Ben stated simply after a few moments of deliberation. Ben finished wrapping her bandages but instead of withdrawing his hands he trailed his fingers down her forearms and gripped both of hands. The same look crossed his face that she had noticed the night previous before leaving the mess. The atmosphere of the room shifted. It felt powerful. Intense.

Lena froze. She stared wide eyed into his open gaze and swallowed hard. Ben met her stare, eyebrows furrowed as he still tightly gripped her hands.

He sat up sharply, clearing his throat and began to move towards the door.

"You should get some rest, princess. It's been a long day."

Lena let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding and stood quickly, attempting to stop him before he reached the door.

"Ben, would you-" She reached for his wrist, gripping the white sleeve of his rough cotton tunic in her palm, her question abruptly silenced when he turned quite suddenly and roughly fastened his lips with her own.

She stood shocked for a brief second, and then she closed her eyes tightly and slid her hands up to his chest until she held the lapels of his vest in her palms, pulling him downward and deepening their kiss. She felt his hand take her waist, his long fingers digging into the thin fabric of her top. She gripped the lapels of his vest more firmly and pulled him even closer before dragging her fingers into the short hair at the nape of his neck.

Ben backed her gently back into the room until she came up short, the backs of her knees hitting the edge of her quilt covered mattress. She sat down abruptly, pulling Ben with her where he held the small of her back with one hand and held himself up with the other, poised over her as he kissed her ardently.

Lena gasped into his lips as he tightened his hold of her waist and positioned one of his knees between her own. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute. _Ben. I'm kissing Ben, and he's kissing me back. Am I asleep? This is too good to be true…_ She assumed that after her months of hopelessly pining over him that it was just that, hopeless. She never imagined that she'd actually find herself in her current position; somewhere between her firm mattress in the middle of the Auroran desert and her Captain's warm chest.

Ben gave her a quizzical look, before he gently brushed the stray blonde curls from her cheek and forehead. She was almost certain that he understood how wildly rampant her mind was running

"Lena…" He sighed, closing his eyes once more and replacing his lips on her own, effectively silencing her internal discourse. Lena sighed in contentment and trailed her fingers through his hair. Seconds passed. Dozens of minutes, maybe, but she hadn't a care in the world. Somewhere far away, out of the semblance of heaven that they had built for themselves, she could hear a small scratching accompanied by an occasional whimper. She paused for a brief second, her hands resting in the unexpected silkiness of Ben's hair. He paused fleetingly to meet her eyes before continuing his administrations. _Oh_, she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was Ben's lovely mouth; a mouth with which he was now trailing kisses down her cheek and jaw to her neck. Lena let out a satisfied whimper. _By Avo, he's good at this… _The scratching noise again._ What?_

The door to the barracks swung open, creaking loudly until it bounced lightly from the roughhewn stone of the buildings walls.

"How can a canteen be a place where you go to get a drink and a thing you put your water in? Just sayin'. We need two words." Lieutenant Montgomery accompanied by a few of the other fort's lieutenants were seemingly in the midst of a great philosophical discussion when they roughly threw open the door. Ein barged happily through, not stopping for a second thought before barreling into the room.

The lieutenants stopped short at the sight of their queen and their newly appointed General sprawled across the patchwork quilted bed in the corner of the barracks, tangled in each other's limbs.

Lena broke apart from Ben with a gasp, pushing him off of her onto the bed and stood quickly, accidently knocking the scattered bottles of anesthetics that Ben had retrieved to the floor where they promptly shattered. It didn't even faze the shocked lieutenants as they stood in the doorway, open mouths gaping.

"Ahem. My sincerest apologies, your Majesty…" Thankfully, Dan had the decency to look at least slightly apologetic about his sudden and inopportune intrusion. Lieutenants Tom and Geoff stood behind him grinning widely. Tom wouldn't stop elbowing Geoff in the side. Lena was absolutely mortified. "We'll just be on our way. We'll be in the mess if you need anything."

Geoff let out a disapproving sound, "But I was—" Dan cut him off with a curt shake of his head and pointed outside.

"Your Majesty. General Finn." With a salute he was out the door, leaving Lena to her absolute humiliation. She sprinted across the room and threw the latch, locking the door securely behind them.

She crossed her arms and looked back to Ben who was now lounging quite comfortably on her bed, feet crossed at his ankles dangling from the side with his arms tucked behind his head on her pillows, a wide grin spread across his face.

"I'm so glad you find this funny," Lena deadpanned.

Ben chuckled deep in his chest, his grin, _somehow_, growing.

"Absolutely hysterical."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Gods... after about four months, I've finally gotten through another chapter. :) I recently started submitting this fic to my Deviantart, so thank you to all who checked it out on there. Also, I'm an idiot.. after all these months I didn't even notice that on the last chapter I was giving a special thanks to Well I Don't <em>Mind_. Not Well I Don't Know... Thanks again. :) _**

**- Notice: Uhhmmm, September 6th.. Wowza. I really shat that chapter out the first time through... I did some editing and made a few adjustments. **


	5. Notice I'm so sorry!

**I'm so sorry for getting anyone's hopes up for a new chapter, but I had to make a little notice and this is the only way I knew that it would get around!**

**I swear I'm not abandoning this, I've got the next few chapters nearly finished and the roadmap for the rest of the story. I can't guarantee that I'll be getting each chapter out super quick though, I only get internet once a week (thursdays) so updating will be a pain. I'm shooting for a story arc somewhere between 10-15 chapters. :) Drop me a message if there is something in particular you'd like to see, I'm always open to suggestions. Thank you all so much for reading what I've got out so far and following even though I have taken so bloody long to get anything out. It really does mean a lot to me. :)**

**-**_-Arieadil_****


End file.
